Apparatus for folding and pressing an edge of pliant material

ABSTRACT

A machine for folding and glueing the edges of single sheets of material such as hides, cardboard, imitation leather and the like, comprising a fixed structure having a top bearing plane or board for the material to be folded; a material clamping unit movable between a raised and lowered position for clamping the material, said unit having, furthermore, a longitudinal blade for folding the material and a rotately carried body parallel with and against the edge of said blade for folding the material edge first against the blade and then on itself.

United States Patent Paccagnella Dec. 30, 1975 [54] APPARATUS FORFOLDING AND 2,364,551 12 1944 Ramsey 93 27 S N AN EDGE 0 PLIANT2,376,360 5/1945 lrmscher 93/27 2,837,979 6/1958 Vilutis 156/492 XMATERIAL 7 3,577,300 12/1969 Glaze et al 156/443 X [76] Inventor: DaniloPaccagnella, Via Oltrebrenta,

, Noventa Padova, Italy Primary ExaminerDouglas J. Drummond AssistantExaminer-David A. Simmons 22 F1 d: 1 20 1973 I 1 l c y Attorney, Agent,or FirmJones, Thomas & Askew [21] Appl. No.: 381,227

Foreign Application Priority Data Dec. 7, 1972 Italy 41711/72 U.S. Cl156/443; 156/492 Int. Cl. B29C 17/00 Field of Search 156/443, 226, 22 7,475, 156/476, 477 R, 478, 479, 480, 486, 492; 93/27, 31; 223/37, 38;270/61 R References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2/1933 Glass 156/480 57ABSTRACT A machine for folding and gluing the edges of single sheets ofmaterial such as hides, cardboard, imitation leather and the like,comprising a fixed structure having a top bearing plane or board for thematerial to be folded; a material clamping unit movable between a raisedand lowered position for clamping the material, said unit having,furthermore, a longitudinal blade for folding the material and arotately carried body parallel with and against the edge of said bladefor folding the material edge first against the blade and then onitself.

9 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures 0 mm Dec. 30, 1975 Sheet 1 of2 5 W ml 5 J4amt Dec.30, 1975 Sheet2of2 3,929,57

N EOPOE Oh APPARATUS FOR FOLDING AND PRESSING AN EDGE OF PLIANT MATERIALIt is well known that when processing a single sheet of materials suchas hides, cardboard, imitation leather and the like, the sheet has to bebeaded by folding the edge on itself for some section and simultaneouslyglueing the folded length. Up to now this operation has been manuallycarried out by rudimentary means which adverselyaffect production costs.

This invention is directed to a machine completely automating all of theabove mentioned operations, thus speeding up and making the processeconomical.

The machine is so constructed as to automatically accomodate thedifferent thicknesses of the materials to be folded, and even a materialhaving unequal or nonuniform thickness.

Essentially, the inventive machine consists of a table having a plane orboard, the material to be folded being placed thereon. The end portionof the table is overhung by a movable clamp unit which, upon lowering,is effective to constrain the material at the folding stage; the clampunit carries a front blade operating to provide for that line alongwhich the material is folded on itself.

A body or mass is hinged in front of the table and forwardly has a flatstrip, the material edge section to be folded bearing thereon.

Folding operation is accomplished by rotating said hinged body or massupwardly from below the table plane or board, forcing the materialagainst the folding blade and thereby pressing it thereagainst. Suitabledevices, such as levers, cams or any other known system, will removesaid folding blade at the final stage, so that the two borders of thefolded edge can contact each other, providing for the gluing thereof.

Forwardly of the flat bearing strip for the edge to be folded, saidhinged body or mass has a projecting blade acting as a stop, againstwhich the edge of material to be folded has to bear in order to ensure acorrect positioning thereof.

By means of suitable devices, this blade is caused to retract during therotary motion of said mass or body, so as not to interfere in thesubsequent pressing operation of the folded edge of material.

In addition to the foregoing operation concept, the inventive machinehas further novel characteristics. For example, the movable equipmentcarrying the folding blade and overlying the table is mounted onresilient means so as to operate on materials of a different thicknessand even of a varying thickness.

In order to allow for uniform adjustment of the rotating body, therotating body is carried on the two sides by two plates which areresiliently constrained to the table, so as to enable shiftings of theaxis of rotation for said body.

The movement for all of the several parts is preferably accomplished byan electric motor which is equipped with appropriate circuits for theoperation thereof and appropriate safety devices in order to prevent anyaccident as far as possible, in a manner known to those skilled in theart.

An embodiment of the machine according to the present invention will nowbe described by mere way of not limiting example with reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front view of the machine according to a disclosedembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a top view of the machine shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view taken along line 33 of FIG. 1, showing the folding bodyat end inoperative position;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3, but showing the folding body at endoperative position;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 55 of FIG. 1,showing the body at inoperative position;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view, similar to that of FIG. 5, butshowing the body at an intermediate operative position; and

FIG. 7 is a pictorial view of the machine, partially broken away to showdetails.

According to the disclosed embodiment invention, a machine is providedwith a table 1, at the top having an inclined bearing plane 1 formaterial 13 (FIG. 5), the edge of which is to be folded after beingscattered beforhand with glue.

A body 2 is forwardly located and rotably carried by two shafts 14, 14'pivotally attached to plates 3, 3' which, in turn, are constrained tothe structure of table 1 by resilient means, such as helical springs 4,4' having a high degree of stiffness.

Cams 5, 5 are secured to the two ends of the pivoting axis for therotating body 2 for operating a movable unit 6 to clamp the materialplaced at the top of table 1. This unit 6 is movably carried between atop or raised position (FIGS. 3 and 5) to enable the material 13 to bereplaced on the machine plane 1', and a bottom or lowered position(FIGS. 4 and 6) at which the unit presses or compacts the material 13against said plane 1 to prevent the material from moving during the edgefolding operation. The mounting for unit 6 is provided by two pins 7passing through and guided in corresponding holes of plane 1 andbrackets 15 secured to the machine structure. Springs 7' as arrangedabout said pins are effective on the latter to draw the unit 6 downwardsagainst the plane or board 1'.

Cams 5 and 5' have a projecting portion, such that when the rotatingbody 2 is at its starting position (FIG. 3), the cams urge the unit 6upwardly against the action of the return springs 7.

As the body 2 moves, said unit 6 is released and is urged downwardly bysprings 7, pressing and clamping the material 13 on said plane or board1.

The unit 6 has a folding blade 8 mounted to extend from the unit in aleftward direction as viewed in FIGS. 3-6, this blade being capable oftransversely moving between a forward or retracted position (FIGS. 3 and5) and a rearward or extended position (FIG. 4) as guided by spokes orscrews 16 threaded in unit 6 and passing through elongated holes 17formed in said blade 8 the blade is rearwardly urged by cams 5 and 5',as shown in FIG. 3, when body 2 has provided for folding the materialand initiates its compression operation as explained hereinbelow.Suitable resilient means (not shown) insure the forward return movementof blade 8 when the latter is not engaged by the cams.

In FIGS. 3 and 4 there is also shown a resilient locking hook 9 havingat the top a notch 9a for locking the rotating body 2 at startingposition. Forwardly, this rotating body 2 has a blade 10, transverselyguided by spokes or screws 18 threaded thereto and passing throughelongated holes 19 (FIG. 2), at inoperative or starting position of body2 this blade 10 being urged to project outwardly at the top of body 2 byfollowers 11 which bear on brackets 11 secured to table 1 (FIG. 5).Resilient return means (not shown) provide for retracting said blade assoon as movement of bo' dy 2 causes said followers to disengage frombrackets ll.

Finally, the machine is equipped with a ,motor 12 which'is attached toa-bracket 'se curedtoi a mount also according to a slight slope inorder: to ac comoda'te 3 the different thicknesses bf materialQ-13QThus, the operation of the machine is' as follows. At starting position,the machine is as shown in FIGS 3 and 5.

Under such conditions, the material 13 would be laid on table 1 and theedge 13' caused to passibeneath the unit 6 until bearing on the'flatedge of body 2, as aligned with the bearing board l and against theoutwardly-projecting blade 10. The edge 13 of the material is nowpositioned to receive a quantity of glue as necessary to secure thefolded'edge of the material.

By operating the above mentioned motor 12, the

rotating body 2 is driven against the action of hook Accordingly, theunit 6 is lowered by springsv7 to press or compact the material 13 theblade 10 is retracted and the rotating body 2 causes the material edgeto fold against blade 8, as shownin FIG. 6.

Next, the blade 8 is rearwardly urged by c'am'sS, 5' and the inner end2b .ofthe body 2 will press the edge said folding body is rotated to aninitial rotational 'positi'on' means operative to rotate said foldingbody about s from said initial rotational position to a j term n' I rt'ational position placing said folding surface in'substantially'parallel and confronting relation with said supportingsurface between said i 3 extremity and said clamping means, so that anedge I portion of'the material which was clamped on said folding surfaceis folded'back onto and pressed a'gainst said clamped material; cammeansrnounted for rotation concurrently with said 'selective rotation ofsaid folding body;

" cam engaging means operativelyassociated with said clamping means tobeengaged by said cam means for'rnoving said clamping means to saidraised position when said folding body is'in' said initial rotationalposition; and" I means" opei'atively associated with said clamping Imeans to lower'said clamping means. 2-. App aratus as claim l, whereinsaid means to lower said clamping means comprises resilient meansoperatively associated with said clamping means to as folded on itself(FIG. 4). Upon reaching the jendof I stroke, the machine is providedwith suitable automatic means causing the motor 12 toreverse and rapidlyrestoring the body 2 to starting position.

As stated, since said body 21s restrained through the supporting plates3, to table 1 by resilient means 4, 4', the machine can accomodatematerials of a different thickness and even of a varying thickness.

Inorder to still improve this feature, the table-for wardly has asection 21 covered with resilient material, thereby accomodatingany-faults inthe material 13 to be folded. I

What I claim is: v 1. Apparatus for folding and pressing soft pliablematerial, comprising;

a supporting surface toreceive and support ,a materialtobefolded;movable material clamping means mounted in-laterally spaced apartrelation to an extremity of said supporting surface, said clamping,...means being mounted for selective movement between a raised positionrelative to said support surface and alowered position for clampingsupport surface; i g w material foldingblade carried-by said' clarnpingmeans and having a folding-edge parallel with said supporting surface; 1i means mounting said folding blade on'said clamping means for a limitedextent of movemen t'transversely of said'clamping means between-anextended position and a retracted position said folding blade when insaid extended position placing said folding edge adjacent saidsupporting'surface an edge of a the material against said extremity infold line defining re'lation'gwithtlthe' material clamped by saidclamping-means;

a folding body mounted for selective rotation about urge'said clampingmeans to said lowered position. i 3. Apparatus as in claim 1, whereinsaid folding surface 'has a' flat material supporting surface whichaligned withsaidsupporting surface when said folding body is insaidfirst rotational position.

4. Apparatusias jinj clain'i 1, wherein: a said folding body carries amaterial positioning membejr, selectively positionable either in anextended position projecting beyond said folding surface or in aretracted position; and V g positioning means v, moving said positioningmember to said extended position in response to said folding bodyassuming said initial position and moving said a positioning member tosaidv retracted position in response to said foldingbody rotating awayfrom said initial position.

5.. Apparatus as in claim 4, wherein-said positioning .meanscomprisesmeans resiliently urging said positioning member to said retractedposition, and cam means operative to move-saidpositioning member to saidextended position in response to movement of said ,-folding=body to saidinitial position.

6. Apparatus for-folding and pressing an edge of a soft pliablemateriaL'cOmpriSing: i a supporting .surface' toreceive andsupport amate- .-rial': to,be foldedj;..

movable material clampingmeans mounted in laterally spaced-apartrelation. to an extremity of said :supporting surface, said clampingmeans being mounted-for selective movement between a raised 1 positionrelative to said support surface and a lowered-position for clamping thematerial against said 1 support surface;

a material folding blade carried by said clamping means and havinga'foldingedge parallel with said supporting surface; 1 r'neans mountingsaid folding blade on said clamping means for a limited i'extent-ofmovement trans versely of said" clamping means between an ex- -t'ended'position and a' retractedposition, said folding blade-when in saidextended position placing said folding ed'gejadja'cent said supportingsurface extremity'in fold line defining relation with the materialclamped by said'clamping means;

a folding body mounted for selective rotation about an axis which issubstantially parallel with said supporting surface extremity, saidfolding body having a folding surface which forms an extension of saidsupport surface beyond said extremity when said folding body is rotatedto an initial rotational position;

means operative to rotate said folding body about said axis from saidinitial rotational position to a terminal rotational position placingsaid folding surface in substantially parallel and confronting relationwith said supporting surface between said extremity and said clampingmeans, so that an edge portion of the material which was clamped on saidfolding surface is folded back onto and pressed against said clampedmaterial; and

resilient means supporting said axis of said folding body to allow saidaxis and said folding body to undergo a limited extent of translationalmovement relative to saidsupporting surface as said folding body isrotated to assume said terminal position. 7. Apparatus as in claim 6,wherein said folding body is supported for said rotation at a pair ofsupport locations, and each of said support locations is indepenofresiliently yieldable material.

1. APPARATUS FOR FOLDING AND PRESSING AN ENDGE OF A SOFT PLIABLEMATERIAL, COMPRISING: A SUPPORTING SURFACE TO RECEIVE AND SUPPORT AMATERIAL TO BE FOLDED, MOVABLE MATERIAL CLAMPING MEANS MOUNTED INLATERALLY SPACED APART RELATION TO AN EXTERMITY OF SAID SUPPORTINGSURFACE, SAID CLAMPING MEANS BEING MOUNTED FOR SELECTIVE MOVEMENTBETWEEN A RAISED POSITION RELATIVE TO SAID SUPPORT SURFACE AND A LOWEREDPOSITION FOR CLAMPING THE MATERIAL AGAINST SAID SUPPORT SURFACE, AMATERIAL FOLDING BLADE CARRIER BY SAID CLAMPING MEANS AND HAVING AFOLDING EDGE PARALLED WITH SAID SUPPORTING SURFACE, MEANS MOUNTING SAIDFOLDING BLADE ON SAID CLAMPING MEANS FOR A LIMITED EXTENT OF MOVEMENTTRANSVERSELY OF SAID CLAMPING MEANS BETWEEN AN EXTENDED POSITION AND ARETRACTED POSITION, SAID FOLDING BLADE WHEN IN SAID EXTENDED POSITIONPLACING SAID FOLDING EDGE ADJACENT SAID SUPPORTING SURFACE EXTERMITY INFOLD LINE DEFINING RELATION WITH THE MATERIAL CLAMPED BY SAID CLAMPINGMEANS, A FOLDING BODY MOUNTED FOR SELECTIVE ROTATION AVBOUT AN AXISWHICH IS SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL WITH SAID SUPPORTING SURFACE ETERMITY,SAID FOLDING BODY HAVING A FOLDING SURFACE WHICH FORMS AN EXTENSION OFSAID SUPPORT SURFACE BEYOND SAID EXTERMITY WHEN SAID FOLDING BODY ISROTATED TO AN INITIAL ROTATION POSITION, MEANS OPERATIVE TO ROTATE SAIDFOLDING BODY ABOUT SAID AXIS FROM SAID INITIAL ROTATIONAL POSITION TO ATERMINAL ROTATIONAL POSITION PLACING SAID FOLDING SURFACE INSUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL AND CONFORNTING RELATION WITH SAID SUPPORTINGSURFACE BETWEEN SAID EXTREMITY AND SAID CLAMPING MEANS, SO THAT AN EDGEPORTION OF THE MATERIAL WHICH WAS CLAMPED ON SAID FOLDING SURFACE ISFOLDED BLACK ONTO AND PRESED AGAINST SAID CLAMPED MATERIAL, CAM MEANSMOUNTED FOR ROTATION CONCURRENTLY WITH SAID SELECTIVE ROTATION OF SAIDFOLDING BODY, CAM ENGAGING MEANS OPERATIVELY ASSOCIATED WITH SAIDCLAMPING MEANS TO BE ENGAGED BY SAID CAM MEANS FOR MOVING SAID CLAMPINGMEANS TO SAID RAISED PORTION WITH SAID FOLDING BODY IS IN SAID INITIALROTATIONAL POSITION, AND MEANS OPERATIVELY ASSOCIATED WITH SAID CLAMPINGMEANS TO LOWER SAID CLAMPING MEANS.
 2. Apparatus as in claim 1, whereinsaid means to lower said clamping means comprises resilient meansoperatively associated with said clamping means to urge said clampingmeans to said lowered position.
 3. Apparatus as in claim 1, wherein saidfolding surface has a flat material supporting surface which alignedwith said supporting surface when said folding body is in said firstrotational position.
 4. Apparatus as in claim 1, wherein: said foldingbody carries a material positioning member selectively positionableeither in an extended position projecting beyond said folding surface orin a retracted position; and positioning means moving said positioningmember to said extended position in response to said folding bodyassuming said initial position and moving said positioning member tosaid retracted position in response to said folding body rotating awayfrom said initial position.
 5. Apparatus as in claim 4, wherein saidpositioning means comprises means resiliently urging said positioningmember to said retracted position, and cam means operative to move saidpositioning member to said extended position in response to movement ofsaid folding body to said initial position.
 6. APPARATUS FOR FOLDING ANDPRESSING AN EDGE OF A SOFT PLIABLE MATERIAL, COMPRISING: A SUPPORTINGSURFACE TO RECEIVE AND SUPPORT A MATERIAL TO BE FOLDED, MOVABLE MATERIALCLAMPING MEANS MOUNTED IN LATERALLY SPACED APART RELATION TO ANEXTERMITY OF SAID SUPPORTING SURFACE, SAID CLAMPING MEANS BEING MOUNTEDFOR SELECTIVE MOVEMENT BETWEEN A RAISED POSITION RELATIVE TO SAIDSUPPORT SURFACE AND A LOWER POSITION FOR CLAMPING THE MATERIAL AGAINSTSAID SUPPORT SURFACE, A MATERIAL FOLDING BLADE CARRIED BY SAID CLAMPINGMEANS AND HAVING A FOLDING EDGE PARALLEL WITH SAID SUPPORTING SURFACE,MEANS MOUNTING SAID FOLDING BLADE ON SAID CLAMPING MEANS FOR A LIMITEDEXTENT OF MOVEMENT TRANSVERSELY OF SAID CLAMPING MEANS BETWEEN ANEXTENDED POSITION AND A RETRACTED POSITION, SAID FOLDING BLADE WHEN INSAID EXTENDED POSITION PLACING SAID FOLDING EDGE ADJACENT SAIDSUPPORTING SURFACE EXTREMITY IN FOLD LINE DEFINING RELATION SAIDEXTERMITY WHEN S A FOLDING BODY MOUNTED FOR SELECTIVE ROTATION ABOUT ANAXIS WHICH IS SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL WITH SAID SUPPORTING SURFACEEXTREMITY, SAID FO.LDING BODY HAVING A FOLDING SURFACE WHICH FORMS ANEXTENSION OF SAID SUPPORT SURFACE BEYOND SAID EXTREMITY WHEN SAIDFOLDING BODY IS ROTATED TO AN INITIAL ROTATIONAL POSITION, MEANSOPERATIVE TO ROTATE SAID FOLDING BODY ABOUT SAID AXIS FROM SAID INITIALROTATIONAL POSITION TO A TERMINAL ROTATIONAL POSITION PLACING SAIDFOLDING SURFACE IN SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL AND CONFRONTING RELATION WITHSAID SUPPORTING SURFACE BETWEEN SAID EXTERMITY AND SAID CLAMPING MEANS,SO THAT AN EDGE PORTION OF THE MATERIAL WHICH WAS CLAMPED ON SAIDFOLDING SURFACE IS FOLDED BACK ONTO AND PRESSED AGAINST SAID CLAMPEDMATERIAL, AND RESILIENT MEANS SUPPORTING SAID AXIS OF SAID FOLDING BODYTO ALLOW SAID AXIS AND SAID FOLDING BODY TO UNDERGO A LIMITED EXTENT OFTRANSLATION MOVEMENT RELATIVE TO SAID SUPPORTING SURFACE AS SAID FOLDINGBODY IS ROTATED TO ASUME SAID TERMINAL POSITION.
 7. Apparatus as inclaim 6, wherein said folding body is supported for said rotation at apair of support locations, and each of said support locations isindependently supported by said resilient means for resiliently yieldingmovement in a direction perpendicular to said axis of rotation. 8.Apparatus as in claim 6, wherein said rotation means is supported bysaid resilient means for said translational movement along with saidfolding body.
 9. Apparatus as in claim 1, wherein said support surfaceadjacent said extremity is covered with a layer of resiliently yieldablematerial.